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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266360">Nowhere I’d Rather Be</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/couragee/pseuds/couragee'>couragee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Glee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Meeting, Coffee Shop, M/M, Meet-Cute, klaine AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:00:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,088</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266360</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/couragee/pseuds/couragee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hi, can I sit here?” Kurt heard a soft voice ask.<br/>Looking up into a pair of hazel eyes, which seemed to faintly glow as if they held the embers of a long dying fire, he replied with a smile, “Sure.” </p><p>AKA Kurt meets Blaine in a café and they hit it off :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Nowhere I’d Rather Be</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hi, can I sit here?” Kurt heard a soft voice ask. </p><p>Looking up into a pair of hazel eyes, which seemed to faintly glow as if they held the embers of a long dying fire, he replied with a smile, “Sure.” </p><p>“Oh, thank you so much! I didn’t want to sit alone and you looked really nice,” the other man grinned, shyly avoiding eye contact. Kurt took the opportunity to quickly look over the hazel-eyed stranger’s appearance. His hair was black and curly, carrying a certain look of being disheveled while tame at the same time, in a way that reminded Kurt faintly of a black sea crashing against the shore. He wore a patterned bow tie over a plain black polo shirt; his tie was red with white dots on it. </p><p>“Do you want a chocolate? I have an extra,” the stranger offered, still grinning - Kurt briefly wondered if it hurt to smile so frequently - and then spoke again, as Kurt didn’t answer (still mesmerised by what he saw in front of him), “Oh sorry, you’re not dairy free are you? If you are, you can have some fruit if you want, or, erm, I can get you something else-“</p><p>“Chocolate sounds great. Thank you,” Kurt interrupted softly, smiling at the other boy’s light blush and flustered rambling. </p><p>A few moments passed in silence, in which both men ate their own food, occasionally stealing glances at one another but looking away before the other could look up to catch their eye. </p><p>“How’s your day been?” the stranger asked in that same gentle voice, so soft that it made Kurt feel like he genuinely cared about Kurt’s answer - more so than even his closest friends seemed to. </p><p>“If I’m being honest, it hasn’t been great. My best friend and roommate, Rachel, and I got into this huge fight about her quitting college. It’s complicated but she pretty much called me immature and cowardly. So, yeah... my day hasn’t been great, seeing as she’s been avoiding me since last night because of that. Uh, how was your day, though? Good, I hope?” Kurt forced himself to stop talking. He didn’t quite know what it was about the man sitting opposite him that made him want to spill all of his secrets, but he was afraid he’d scare him away if he continued. </p><p>“Wow... she said that? Well, that really sucks.” the man sighed. </p><p>“Yeah... I don’t know, it’ll probably work itself out soon enough, but it still hurts. I’d like to think I’m neither of those things,” Kurt replied, biting his lip to prevent the sudden threat of tears. From his own point of view, he had been forced to be brave his entire life; when his mother had died all those years ago, he had to be brave to stop his dad from falling apart; when bullies threatened his very life and stole his first kiss, he had to be brave in order to resist the urge to fight back and end up hurting himself and other people; when he didn’t get into NYADA, he had to be brave and re-audition with virtually no practice or warm up beforehand. He had always thought that his courage was the most commendable aspect of his personality; it hurt to hear that he wasn’t brave, because that meant that he was nothing; that the very foundation upon which he had built himself and his new life in New York was a lie, and he would be left in ruins. </p><p>He was snapped out of his thoughts again by the gentle tone of the stranger. “That sounds really tough. Can I give you some advice that usually helps me in that situation?” The hazel eyes were trained on his own, wide and hopeful. </p><p>“Um, sure.”</p><p>The man ducked his head and chuckled lightly before speaking. “My friend said this to me once and it really stuck with me. Erm... a broken mirror shows a broken reflection. It just means that you’re not broken, but maybe your perspective is. And that’s not your fault, that lies entirely on the shoulders of the person who broke the mirror - which in this case, is your friend Rachel. Really, what she said to you, using that mirror analogy, just shows that she can be careless and isn’t as gentle as she should be when handling that mirror.” </p><p>He seemed to hesitate before continuing, looking back down at his plate before looking up once more to meet Kurt’s eyes. “I’ve only known you for a few minutes but I can already tell you’re brave. It just seems to almost... radiate off you, if that makes sense?” He smiled brightly, “And I think you seem lovely and if I’m being quite honest, you’re also very cute, which is why I came to sit with you in the first place.”</p><p>Kurt stared in shock, absorbing everything he had just heard. His manners seemed to kick into gear before the rest of his brain did, because he replied with a deep blush, “Oh, well... thank you.”</p><p>“You’re welcome. Oh, I nearly forgot - my day has been mostly alright, thank you for asking. But it’s even better now I’m talking to you.” He winked, flashing a charming smile. </p><p>Kurt giggled - actually giggled, like a teenage girl - and looked up at the other man through his lashes. “Well, I’ve enjoyed talking to you too. I’m really sorry to leave you on your own again but I have to get back to work. Maybe we can... catch up another time?”</p><p>The stranger grinned again (and seriously, how wasn’t he in agony at this point?) and started to rummage around in his pockets before giving a triumphant hum and pulling out a pink pen. He picked up the napkin from the table and began scrawling out a note as Kurt watched on in curiosity. Once finished, he shoved the pen back into his coat and slid the napkin across to Kurt, who observed it with an expression of mild confusion, until the man laughed softly at himself and rotated the previously upside down note so Kurt could read its elegant slant:</p><p>‘Same time tomorrow? - Blaine :)’ It read, with a phone number written below. Kurt smiled softly and looked up to see the man blushing furiously as he tried to busy himself with his fruit salad. Kurt reached a tentative hand across the table to rest on the other man’s knuckles, stroking lightly until their eyes met. </p><p>“I’d like that, Blaine,” Kurt grinned, also blushing.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Title is from ‘Going Nowhere’ by Darren Criss :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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